Firearms are common in many parts of the world, and have been in use for centuries. Firearms are useful in both civilian and military applications, as they excel at hitting targets at long range, often with lethal results. In the case of most firearms, it is this lethality that makes them so useful. In civilian applications firearms are exceedingly effective for hunting game. Hunting is still a major source of protein for many cultures around the world, and firearms are very useful for such purposes. In military applications, firearms allow for the neutralization of hostile targets at long range. These uses have ensures that firearms remain an extremely common tool which can be found throughout human society in both civilian and military applications.
Although the long exposure and large adoption of firearms has resulted in many related technologies being developed, there still remain a large number of improvements that can be made to certain areas of firearm technology. On such area is the concept of gas-operated reloading. Gas-operated reloading allows for the creation of self-loading firearms which use energy created by firing a bullet chamber a new round and therefore ready the firearm to discharge again.
There are many designs for gas-operated reloading systems, and they all have varying degrees of complexity and functionality added to the firearm. Some gas-operating systems are fixed, in that the amount of gas that is redirected back into the gun cannot be modified; such systems are often designed into the firearm and cannot be easily removed or modified without compromising the functionality of the firearm. Gas-operated reloading systems can create difficulties when certain accessories are added to a firearm, especially accessories that alter the firing characteristics of the firearm. For example, if a suppressor is attached to a rifle, the ideal amount of redirected gas is altered as compared to the same firearm without a suppressor. Some systems allow for a level of control of the impedance of gas flow, but suffer from undesired positional adjustments in use and difficult operation of the adjustment mechanisms.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a user adjustable gas-flow volume control for a gas-operated reloading system. It is a further object of the present invention to provide stable and discrete levels of gas flow impedance by providing varying levels of discrete variation. It is a further object still of the present invention to be easily operated in confined spaces with minimal tool usage.